Pocono Township supervisors wait in acrimonious limbo

The employment situation for the supervisors in Pocono Township is, to say the least, muddled.

MICHAEL SADOWSKI

The employment situation for the supervisors in Pocono Township is, to say the least, muddled.

Supervisor Henry Bengel is thwarting pleas and petitions from frustrated residents to resign from his new position of township "roadmaster," a change in verbiage from the initial title of "director of public works."

Supervisor Harold Werkheiser is out of the roadmaster position, but may have worked out an agreement to stay with the department — even though township officials don't necessarily believe that's true.

And in another twist, Werkheiser has requested to be compensated as a full-time employee, with benefits, for his appointed position of assistant secretary/treasurer.

To top it all off, none of them, including Supervisor Frank Hess as the secretary/treasurer, are getting paid, and they likely won't be until at least February.

"It's a mess," Hess said after Wednesday night's often-heated, cut-short township meeting that was punctuated by swearing and finger-pointing. "But it's in the hands of the lawyers now, we can't do anything about it."

Bengel, though he admittedly has limited to no experience mechanically or on a road crew, was nominated for the position earlier this month by Hess.

Bengel was then approved when he voted for himself.

Since that appointment, however, none of the three supervisors are being paid for their township positions because the Board of Auditors, which sets salaries of supervisors in township positions, hasn't set the amounts yet.

Normally the auditors meet in the first or second week of the year and don't meet again until the next year.

But this year, Scotrun lawyer Jennifer Wise, who is advising Werkheiser, requested that he be paid as a full-time employee for his appointed position of assistant secretary/treasurer.

The argument, according to Wise's letter to the auditors, is that when Hess held the position in 2011, he was paid $37,000 a year with benefits.

Bengel held the position in 2012, but did not request a full-time position.

Hess said the auditors will meet at 5 p.m. Monday, but likely it only will be to hire a lawyer. That would likely mean there won't be a decision on salaries until at least February.

Solicitor Jeffrey Durney said there likely would be retroactive pay when the auditors do set the salaries.

Bengel initially said he would be requesting $72,000, which he said was less than what it cost the township to compensate Werkheiser when benefits were taken into account.

Hess said Wednesday Werkheiser made $52,000 a year, plus benefits, which Bengel said cost the township $76,000 a year.

However, Bengel said he is cutting his salary request to $56,000.

That didn't stop angry residents from asking the township to reconsider the vote that put Bengel into his position, or for him to just flat-out resign.

A petition with about 200 names on it was given to supervisors Wednesday asking them to reconsider that Jan. 7 vote, but it never happened.

Some residents, many of whom said they supported Bengel in his write-in supervisor campaign in 2011, said he needs to step back and recognize the mistake he made.

"There are a fair number of people here that supported you that are upset that this particular thing went the way it did," said Christine Harvell of Tannersville. "We're human, we all are. We make mistakes. There's nothing wrong with stepping back and saying, 'I made a mistake.' There's no shame in it."

And the 200 names on the petition could have been greater, but Diane Zweifel, one of the residents who had been circulating it, said some people were apprehensive about signing.

"People wanted to sign it, but told us they were up for a permit or township approval this year and didn't want to anger the supervisors," she said. "They thought they'd have a bull's-eye on their backs."

Wednesday's meeting resembled controlled chaos until after about two hours, when full-fledged chaos nearly broke out.

When one of Bengel's daughters was in the middle of talking publicly about her father, a woman who did not identify herself — par for the course from Wednesday's speakers — interrupted and criticized Bengel for using his daughter as a "prop."

That led to cursing, name-calling and an end to the meeting.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.